Category: Awards

THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE TWO TOWERS and SPIDER-MAN got five nominations apiece to lead the list of contenders for MTV's 2003 MOVIE AWARDS. The 12th edition of the awards will honor a new generation of performers in a new category: best virtual performance. Nominees include Yoda in STAR WARS: EPISODE II - ATTACK OF THE CLONES, Gollum in THE TWO TOWERS, Dobby in HARRY POTTER AND THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS, Kangaroo Jack in KANGAROO JACK and Scooby-Doo in SCOOBY-DOO.THE TWO TOWERS is nominated for Best Movie along with SPIDER-MAN, 8 MILE, BARBERSHOP and THE RING.

Attendees at the NAB2003 exhibition in Las Vegas voted for the first NAB Awards for Innovation in Media (AIMs), given to 15 products for technological innovations that best address current and upcoming issues in the electronic media industry. The top five products within each category were handed out during NAB's Technology Luncheon on April 9, 2003. Key industry editors are reviewing these selections to select an overall winner in each category for 2003 "Editors' Choice" awards be announced on April 17, 2003.

The United States won half of the 10 main Pulcinella Award statuettes, including those for the Best Program and the Best Character of the Year, at the 2003 edition of Cartoons On The Bay in Positano, Italy, on April 12, 2003. KIM POSSIBLE, produced by Walt Disney Television Animation, has won the Pulcinella for the Best Program as well as for the Best TV Series for Children. HOME MOVIES, by Soup2Nuts won for Best Character as well as the award for the Best TV Series for Adolescents & Adults.

The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) announced its nominations for the 2002 British Academy Television Craft Awards. Framestore CFC is competing against itself for the Visual Effects Award for its work on DINOTOPIA with Beechmoon Prods. for Sky One and THE GIANT CLAW A WALKING WITH DINOSAURS SPECIAL, with Impossible Pictures for BBC1. Mike McGee, Michael Eames, Alec Knox are the nominated team for DINOTOPIA while Max Tyrie, Tim Greenwood, Jez Gibson Harris have been singled out for THE GIANT CLAW.

Disney Feature Animation and Nickelodeon's SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS earned two Golden Reel Awards each at the Motion Picture Sound Editors 50th annual awards banquet March 22, 2003 at the Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles. SPONGEBOB won for both Best Sound Editing in Television: Animated Music and Best Sound Editing in Television: Animated Sound. Music editor Nicholas Carr won his second Golden Reel for SPONGEBOB music, while the Hacienda Post sound team of supervising sound editors Timonthy Borquez and Jeffrey Hutchins, in addition to dialogue editors Tony Ostyn and Daisuke Sawa won for their sound work on the series. Music editor Ken Karman was the recipient for Best Sound Editing in Feature Film: Animated Music for his work on LILO AND STITCH. It was Karman's first experience on an animated film. Best Sound Editing in Feature Film: Animated Sound went to the crew on Disney's TREASURE PLANET. The crew, which had done the sound editing on THE MATRIX, and had never worked together on an animated feature before, said they were completely astounded to win against the competition. The recipients included supervising sound editor Dane Davis, supervising sound /dialogue/ ADR editor Julia Evershade, foley editor Andrew Lackey and sound editor Richard Adrian. Evershade did have some previous animation experience on BEAUTY AND THE BEAST and SPACE JAM. Supervising sound editor Tom Syslo, a multiple Golden Reel winner, was on hand to pick up his award for Best Sound Editing: Direct to Video, awarded for THE ADVENTURES OF TOM THUMB AND THUMBELINA, along with supervising dialogue editor Eric Freeman. Fellow Hacienda Post editors Borquez and supervising ADR editor Eileen Horta were also part of the winning direct to video team. The Verna Fields Award in Sound Editing for Student Filmmakers went to sound editor Antonia Bates for her work on the animated film LAST RUMBA IN ROCHDALE, produced at The National Film And Television School in London. This year the Special Venue award also went to an animated project, SANTA VS. THE SNOWMAN 3D, for Imax. The winning team for Best Sound Editing: Special Venue went to supervising sound editors Tim Archer and Brian Eimer, music editor Carl Lenox and sound editors Dan Shattuch, Grant McAlpine, Regan Ramos and Julian Daboll. The surprise win of the evening was when Best Sound Editing In Domestic Features: Sound Effects/Foley was awarded to the team on ROAD TO PERDITION, who thanked the MPSE for appreciating the subtle sound work involved. For a complete list of winners go to ww.mpse.org.

It seems the tastes of active Animation World Network viewers do not jive with the Academy voters according to the results now in for AWN's Oscar Reivew reader poll. For once AWN voters selected a different short film winner, picking THE CATHEDRAL over the Oscar-winning THE CHUBBCHUBBS, which just won the Oscar. An overwhelming 46% of all AWN voters predicted THE CATHEDRAL would take home the Oscar, while 18% voted for MIKE'S NEW CAR, followed by 14% for DAS RAD, 15% for MT. HEAD. THE CHUBBCHUBBBS finished last with 10%.

On March 23, 2003 at the Kodak Theater in Hollywood, California, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced the winners of this year's Oscars. Hayao Miyazakis SPIRITED AWAY (Walt Disney) was awarded the Oscar for Best Animated Feature, while visual effects stunner THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE TWO TOWERS (New Line) took home the Oscar for Best Achievement in Visual Effects. Eric Armstrong's THE CHUBBCHUBBS (Sony Pictures Imageworks) won the Oscar for Best Animated Short Film.

Students from New York University and Pasadena's Art Center School of Design took first place for animation in the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Foundation's 24th Annual College Television Awards Competition. The winners, along with students in live-action categories, were flown in from all across the country to be honored at a special awards gala on March 16, 2003 at the St. Regis Hotel in Los Angeles, during which they had the opportunity to meet with industry leaders at the invitation-only ceremony.

Animation writer Ken Keeler picked up the first ever Animation Award at the 55th Annual Writers Guild Awards bi-coastal ceremonies March 8, 2003 for his FUTURAMA teleplay "Godfellas." It was the first time all animated programs (long form original, long form adaptation, specials and episodic) competed in the new television animation category. Animation programming scripted by WGA members had previously been submitted under the appropriate category (i.e. 30-minute comedy, hour-long drama).

CLIFFORD THE BIG RED DOG was the big winner again of four nominations, topping all other animated shows, at The 30th Annual Daytime Emmy Award nominations announced on March 12, 2003. Almost exactly a year ago, on March 13, 2003, CLIFFORD led the animation pack with five noms. The PBS series is produced by Scholastic Productions and Mike Young Productions. Close behind was Nicks DORA THE EXPLORER, nabbing three nominations, including one for Outstanding Children's Animated Program.

Anima 2003, the 22nd Animation Festival, concluded in Brussels on March 9, 2003 with an awards presentation and the announcement of four Cartoon d'Or nominations. Anima 2003 (formerly the Brussels Cartoon and Animation Festival) is one of the seven European partner festivals for the Cartoon d'Or, which will be awarded in Varese next September 2003.

Retro Studios of Austin, Texas was at the top of its game, winning Game of the Year and Excellence in Level of Design for its METROID PRIME, as well as Rookie Studio of the year honors March 6, 2003, at the 3rd annual Game Developers Choice Awards during the 2003 Game Developers Conference (GDC) in San Jose, California. The Oscar-equivalent in the gaming world, the Choice Awards are true peer recognition honors, as all nominees and recipients are voted on free of charge, by professional game developers around the world.

The Online Film Critics Society (OFCS), the international association of the leading Internet-based cinema journalists, has released its choices of the Top 100 Animated Features of All Time with TOY STORY placing first according to a vote of the 138 reviewers.

It seems many of the winners at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences 2002 Scientific and Technical Awards are jumping onto other teams. The first Oscars of the season were given out, three weeks before the televised Oscar ceremony on Saturday, March 1, 2003 at the Regent Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills.

Norah Jones may have won the giant awards at the 45th annual Grammy Awards on Sunday, February 23, 2003, at Madison Square Garden in New York City, however MONSTERS, INC. SCREAM FACTORY FAVORITES won for Best Musical Album For Children. Country western group Riders In The Sky performed the sing-along with Mike and Sulley for Walt Disney Records. The CD comes with a book and lyrics for family fun. THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING, won a Grammy from the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences, Inc.

THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE TWO TOWERS picked up three BAFTA awards Sunday, February 23, 2003, during the Orange British Academy Film Awards held at the Odeon Leicester Square in the heart of London's West end. The VFX epic motion picture received Orange Film of the Year (voted by the public, whereas THE PIANIST won for Best Film, voted by members British Academy of Film and Television Arts). RINGS also won for Achievement in Special Visual Effects, singling out Jim Rygiel, Joe Letteri, Randall William Cook and Alex Funke for recognition.

Upping the recognition and honors for visual effects professionals, the Visual Effects Society kicked off its first annual awards ceremony Wednesday, February 19, 2003 at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles. THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE TWO TOWERS led the night with eight film awards while DINOTOPIA garnered four for television. Character animation was highlighted with awards given in television, animated and live-action features.

The recipients will be announced at a ceremony on March 6, 2003, during the Game Developers Conference (GDC), March 4-8 in San Jose, Calif. Produced by the Gama Network, the GDC is the largest annual event exclusively for game development professionals. Nominations were free and open to all professional game developers, regardless of membership or affiliation, so that nominees reflect the international development community's opinions.

Five films were selected in the Best Animated Feature Film category by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences that were announced this morning for the 75th Academy Awards. Three are Walt Disney releases, LILO & STITCH (Chris Sanders), SPIRITED AWAY (Hayao Miyazaki) and TREASURE PLANET (Ron Clements), which will vie against Twentieth Century Fox and Blue Sky's ICE AGE (Chris Wedge) and DreamWorks' SPIRIT: STALLION OF THE CIMARRON (Jeffrey Katzenberg).

ICE AGE, LILO AND STITCH, THE WILD THORNBERRYS MOVIE and SPIRIT: STALLION OF THE CIMARRON received nominations in both best sound editing and music in animated features from the Motion Picture Sound Editors, which will present its Golden Reel Awards at the Century Plaza Hotel March 22 during the group's 50th annual awards banquet. TV series CSI, FASTLANE, JOHN DOE and SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS took two noms each as well.

The Writers Guild has announced the nominees for the 55th Annual Writers Guild Awards. For the first time this year, all animated programs (long form original, long form adaptation, specials and episodic) are competing in the new television animation category. Animation programming scripted by WGA members was previously submitted under the appropriate category (i.e. 30-minute comedy, hour-long drama).

Imagina.03, the international festival for digital images, handed out its annual awards on February 5, 2003 at a ceremony in Monaco's Grimaldi Forum. Sony Pictures Imageworks had a big night, winning awards for best direction for the short film THE CHUBBCHUBBS, directed by Eric Armstrong, and taking home best feature honors for STUART LITTLE 2. 2003 was the first year Imagina has presented a best feature film prize, and it was awarded to the feature film that had the most effective use of digital technology.

Hayao Miyazaki's SPIRITED AWAY won top honors at the 30th Annual Annie Awards ceremony, taking home awards for best feature film, writing, music and direction. SPIRIT: STALLION OF THE CIMARRON also ran off with major awards in the categories of character design, effects animation, production design and storyboarding.

The 20th Annual Sundance Film Festival wrapped up on January 26, 2003 after announcing the festival winners. Animation was represented in the Dramatic Grand Jury Prize winner AMERICAN SPLENDOR, directed by Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini. AMERICAN SPLENDOR tells the story of comic artist Harvey Pekar using documentary footage mixed with narrative live-action and animation created by Gary Leib and John Kuramoto of the New York-based design and animation company Twinkle.